supporting, developing and representing community groups,
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Scottish Government - Charity Law Consultation

Created: 09/01/2019

The Scottish Government is seeking views from members of the public, the charity sector, and anyone with an interest in charity law.

The consultation, which will run from 07 January 2019 until 01 April 2019 and can be accessed here sets out options to change the current regulatory system in Scotland that would increase transparency, accountability and public trust in charities.

Options in the consultation include:

• An external register of charity trustees
• Publishing annual reports and accounts in full for all charities on the Scottish Charity Register
• Removal of charities from the Scottish Charity Register that are persistently failing to submit annual reports and accounts and may no longer exist
• All charities in the Scottish Charity Register to have and retain a connection in Scotland

Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said:

"Charities play a vital role in our society, from supporting individuals and communities, to informing policy at a national level, they are key to us achieving our ambition of creating a fairer and more prosperous country.
"It is therefore important that we do all we can to maintain and increase public trust and confidence in the charity sector and making sure legislation supports that. I would encourage anyone with an interest in the charity sector to share their views by responding to this consultation."

In the 2018 Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) survey, figures showed that 88 per cent of people said that seeing evidence of a charity's achievements and knowing how much of their donation went to the cause would improve their trust in charities.